Double faced floor tool for airmethod cleaning system



D. B. REPLOGLE ET AL -March 19, 1935.

DOUBLE FACED FQLOOR TOOL FOR AIR METHOD CLEANING SYSTEMS Filed May 24,- 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet l m. N M 5 H 0B. REPLOGLEI March 19, 1935. D. B. REPLOGLE ET AL.

DOUBLE FAOED FLOOR TOOL FOR AIR METHOD CLEANING SYSTEMS Filed May 24, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 hf 5 QUEEN m mm mm DB. REPL06L March 119, 1935.

DOUBLE FAQED FLOOR TOOL FOR AIR METHOD CLEANING SYSTEMS Filed May24. 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 r INVENTORS hi5. 115m BY 0. EPLOGLE.

WM/N ATTORNEY D. B, REPLQGLE Er AL 3,994,872

retested Mar. 19, 1935* 9 1,994,872

DOUBLE FACED FLOOR TOOL FOR AIR- METHOD CLEANING SYSTEM Daniel Benson Replogle, Berkeley, Calif., and Harold E. Queen, Washington, D. 0.,assignors, by direct and mesne assignments, to Citizens Trust Company, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio, as trustee j Application May 24, 1932, Serial No. 613,290

' In Great Britain April 19, 1932 10 Claims. (Cll. 15-155) This invention pertains to the application tools Fig. 2 is a view similar to that in Fig. 1, but through which suction is applied, particularly with the short mouth downward; to floors and floor coverings, by means of so- Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the tool with one called vacuum cleaner systems; but is more parroller and spring removed, the other spring being 5 ticularly applicable to that form of electrical shown in dotted lines, the front wall partly broken 5 motor driven portable cleaner of the type comaway to disclose the interior spring pocket and mercially known under the registered trade-mark the valve shoes, and the fibre stroker partly Air-Way, in which suction producing means broken away; are directly connected to the suction pipe that Fig.4 is a top plan view of the tool with the carries the floor cleaning tool; and are moved fibre stroker of the short mouth pa y broken 10 about manually with the pipe, or some part of it, away; used as a handle. Fig. 5 is an end view of the upper and lower' According to the preferred embodiment of the members joined, but with the valve member reinvention the floor tool is provided with two moved;

mouths, one of which may be employed for ordi- Fig. 6 .s a side view of the valve member; 15 nary floor cleaning purposes, while the other is Fig. 7 is a. top view of the central part of the of restricted size and is employed especially for lower member; I thread picking purposes, Devices of thi gen- Fig. 8 is a sectional elevation of the upper memeral character are known per se and require valve means for selectively cutting off one or the other Fig. 9 is an underside view of same; 20 mouth, whichever is uppermost, from the outlet Fig. 10 is a sectional front elevation of a modipipe or conduit which is connected to a suitable fled form of the tool;

' source of suction. In. previous devices of this Fig. 11 is a front elevation of the rear member general character difiiculty has been experienced of a second modification;

in maintaining a rotatable but fluid tight cons a sectional plan of the modification 25 nection between the floor tool or nozzle and the Shown in Fig. 11, taken on l n outlet conduit in which is incorporated the valve. 13 is a d V w of t ont and reel According to the present invention we overcome members o the Second modification, and

this difiiculty by providing a, nozzle composed of Fig. 14 is a sectional elevation of the second two sections, including complementary portions modification. 30 adapted to rotatably engage a member carried 15 is a fragmentary d a View Showing by the hollow handle. When the two sections one end of one of the Spring fi e f t of the nozzle are secured together they engage pp the end Tollefethe joint m e with a fluid tight fit, which Characters of reference used in any of the permits of relative rotation between the nozzle Views denote like Similar parts where y 35 and hollow handle, while preventing accidental are used in the other Viewsremoval so long as the two sections of the nozzle In Figs; 1 and a Suction Producing a s remain assembled. An added advantage of this 1 is di t y connected t h suction p p handle construction resides inthe' fact that the two parts 2. The subj of s invention iS the tool 3 so of the nozzle may be economically and efiiciently atta d t one nd of t p p 2 by means f 40 manufactured. the slip joint 4.

Another jeature of the invention is the novel In igs. 3 and 4, an 5 to numeral 5 d form of stroker or floor engaging member emnotes the lower member of the tool, and numployed in connection with the nozzle or floor tool. erel 6 the pp member when in the attitude Other features of the invention reside in imgeneral oleening- The Valve member is 45 proved details of construction of the floor tool noted by numeral and its attachments. Referring particularly to Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 7, The invention will be more apparent from a the lower member 5 is a chamber having a consideration of the specific embodiments shown mouth 8 with lips 99, upon which are slid in the accompanying drawings, which are instrokers 10-10, leaving at either end of the 50 t ded as illustrative ytool openings 1111. In the upper part of In the drawings: member 5 and opening toward either end of the, Fig. 1 is a perspective view, on small scale, of member are pockets 12-12 with lugs 1313 at the entire cleaner with the tool attached, and the open end of either pocket adapted to engage with the longer mouth downward; shoulders 14l4 (Fig. 15) on roller springs -15. The bottoms 16-16 of pockets 12-12 form the top 17 of chamber 18 of member 5. The ends 19-19 of the member 5 and the lips 9-9 form the previously enumerated end openings 11-11. Roller shanks 20-20, by means of clasps 21-21, carry flat covers 22-22 adapted to automatically uncover or cover end openings 11-11 according as downward pressure is applied to the tool or relieved. The front wall 23 of member 5 carries a semi-circular boss 24 with semi-circular recess 25 on the inner side adapted to receive and assist in centering valve member '7. The small bosses 26-26 with downwardly opening pockets 27-27 are adapted to receive the hooks of an attachable brush not shown. The rear wall 28 of member 5 has an annular boss 29 with an upwardly opening semi-circular groove 30 adapted to receive flange 31 of valve member 7., The top 1'7 of chamber 18 is cut at the center to form valve port 32 defined by shoes 33-33 and walls 23 and 28.

As shown in Figs. 3, 4, 5, 8 and 9, the upper member 6 is a chamber having a mouth 34 with coplanar edges to which is fastened a stroker 35 having beads 36-36 and end openings 37-37. Beads 36--36 have coplanar hooks 38 pointing toward the center line of mouth 34. The front wall 39 of member 6 carries a semicircular boss 40 with semi-circular recess 41 on the inner side adapted to receive and assist in centering valve member '7. The rear wall 42 of member 6 has an annular boss 43 with a downwardly opening semi-circular groove 44 adapted to receive flange 31 of valve member 7. The lower part of member 6 has a port 45 defined by shoes 46-46 and walls 39 and 42.

In Fig. 6 the valve member 7 is a tubular conduit having a cylindrical section 4'? adapted to slip over conduit pipe 2, thus forming slip joint 4, and be retained by latch 48. Cylindrical section 47 merges into an elbow 49 of approximately 40 degrees. Elbow 49 in turn merges into a cylindrical section 50 which has its lower half cut away, leavinga half cylindrical shape which constitutes a valve which closes either port 45 or port 32, according to which is uppermost. Upon the rear part of cylindrical section 50 is formed a flange 31 adapted to engage grooves 44 and 30 constituting a rotatable joint 52 allowing reversement of the tool about valve member '7.

In Fig. 10 there is shown a modified form of the invention in which the top of the pocket is omitted from the lower member and its function is performed by a pin or bolt through holes 53-53 in lower member 54, and by the tips 55-55 of upper member 56.

In Figs. 11 to 14 is shown a. second modified form of the invention in which the tool is divided, for purposes of casting and assembling about the flange 31, into front member 57 and rear member 58. In assembling, the shank 47 of valve member 7 being smaller than cylindrical section 50 is threaded through the hole 59 in rear member 58.

In operation, the main mouth is used in general cleaning, but there are times when a concentrated swift current of air is needed at a single point to pick up recalcitrant threads imbedded in the rug. To meet this condition, the short inlet mouth is provided on the tool, which mouth maybe brought into use by revolving the tool on the handle.

The lips of the mouths .of the tool are provided with the renewable strokers 10-10 and 35 of hard fibre, rubber, rawhide or other suitable material, in order that fabrics being-cleaned shall not be discolored and that wooden or linoleum covered floors shall not be scratched. In the construction shown, the stroker 35 on the shorter mouth 34 is shaped to form hooks or notches 38 to assist in removing recalcitrant threads from rugs. These hooks 38 point. inwardly of the mouth and lie parallel to the surface being cleaned. The strokers 10-10 of the main mouth 8 may be smooth or may be equipped with hooks 53 for a short distance at their mid section.

When the main mouth of the tool is applied to rugs it is supported by rollers at either end of the tool. These rollers are connected to the tool by springs of such tension that the mouth of the tool bears lightly on the rug. Either or both of these rollers are quickly removable to allow cleaning along base boards.

.When the short mouth of the tool is applied to rugs to remove persistent threads the tool is not supported by the rollers and any pressure desirable may be used against the rug.

In the construction shown in Figs. 3 to 10, the tool is made in upper and lower halves suitably joined together, each having a semi-circular annular groove adapted to fit over a flange on the valve member forming a revolvable joint. The invention also contemplates the division of the tool into front and rear members, as shown in Figs. 11 to 14, which are suitably joined together after being assembled about the flange of the valve member. The tool may be made of any suitable material, as for example cast metal, die cast synthetic resin, or it may be stamped from sheet metal. According to the specific embodiment of the invention as illustratedin the drawings, die cast aluminium is contemplated.

We claim:

1. In combination with a suction handle having an annular rib adjacent one end, a suction nozzle formed of two sections,.each section carrying a complementary portion of a groove adapted to rotatably engage said rib when the two sections of the nozzle are secured together, and means for securing the two sections of the nozzle together upon said handle.

2. A floor tool as defined in claim 1, in which the two sections are superposed.

3. A floor tool as defined in claim 1, in which one of the sections constitutes a rear wall for said tool.

4. A floor tool as defined in claim 1, in which one of the sections constitutes a rear wall for said tool and is provided with an opening to permit the outlet pipe to be passed therethrough in assembling the device. I

5. In combination with a suction handle, a valve member carried thereby, an annular rib carried by the valve member, a suction nozzle formed in two sections, each section carrying a suction opening and each section carrying a complementary portion of an annular groove rotatably engaging the rib of said valve member when the two sections of the nozzle are secured to-'- gether.

6. A floor tool comprising two superposed sections, each section having a mouth portion, one of which is of reduced size, the section having the reduced mouth having overhanging end portions spaced from the other section and forming pockets to receive supports for end rollers; and retaining means carried by the other of said members cooperating with said pockets for holding said supports.

7. A suction cleaner nozzle comprising two superposed sections each having a suction inlet, one of said sections extending laterally beyond the other, laterally extending flanges carried by the sections and fastening means extending through said flanges for securing said sections together, the ends of the flanges of one section overhanging and being spaced from a portion of the second section to form pockets for retaining the ends of supports for end rollers, and retaining means carried by the second section cooperating with said pockets for holding said supports.

8. A floor tool for a suction cleaner comprising a nozzle having end openings adjacent the floor, end pockets formed inthe nozzle above the openings, end rollersfor said nozzle, spring supports for said end rollers fitting in said pockets, adjustable covers for said end openings, each having an arm extending at an angle to the cover and clamps encircling said arms and said supports,

whereby the end covers are yieldingly mounted with reference to the end openings.

9. A detachable stroker member for floor tools of suction cleaners, comprising a continuous rectangular strip of non-metallic material having cut-away end portions providing end openings, and beaded side portions adapted to engage the floor.

10. Av detachable stroker member for floor tools of suction cleaners, comprising a continuous rectangular strip of non-metallic material having cut-away end portions providing end openings, and beaded side portions adapted to engage the floor, said beaded portions being provided with thread-picking hooks.

DANIEL BENSON REPLQGLE. HAROLD E. QUEEN. 

